Release of Purifoy another example Ottawa Redblacks won't put up with players who don't 'fit'

The Ottawa Redblacks have again shown they’re not afraid to dump guys they don’t think fit in off the field.

That seems to be the case with Monday’s announcement they had released Loucheiz Purifoy, a starter at boundary cornerback.

There’s no way Purifoy, who has already signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders according to TSN’s Farhan Lalji, is gone because of on-field performance — he looked pretty good in seven games with 29 tackles and an interception. But the 25-year old, who played two seasons for the B.C. Lions before signing with the Redblacks as a free agent before this season, was apparently not on the same wavelength as the coaching staff and some of his teammates.

“It was an accumulation of things — on the field and off the field,” said Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins. “It just doesn’t fit with what we want in our locker-room and on the field. There were a number of issues, I’m not going to get into specifics. There have been lingering issues. He’s a good football player, but there’s more to being a good football player than being somebody who can make plays on the field. There are other parts to that, too. You have to be a good teammate.”

“It just didn’t end up being the right fit,” said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell. “It’s, I’m sure, disappointing for him and disappointing for us. It didn’t work out. We try to be brave enough around here to do what we think is best for the Redblacks. That’s what we thought was in the best interest of the team, so we made the move.”

Last month, the Redblacks dumped another defensive starter, Josh Johnson, who Campbell said of at the time: “It just didn’t turn out to be a good fit.”

Again, there are those words: “Good fit.”

At practice on Tuesday, Sherrod Baltimore, a starter a year ago, got most of the reps in place of Purifoy. With safety Antoine Pruneau moving to SAM linebacker to fill in for injured Anthony Cioffi, former Carleton Ravens defensive back Justin Howell, a rookie, saw much of the starting time at safety.

“We have multiple options so we’ll take a look at a couple of guys,” said Campbell. “Any move we make is not done blindly or without a lot of thought going into it. We feel comfortable we have a good group of DBs. We have our group from last year, plus we signed some guys this year. We have an excess of good players.”

As for Cioffi, who has been a standout since stepping into a starting role, Campbell said: “He’s had a nagging injury, we wanted to let him sit today and take a breather. Hopefully he can rebound quickly and be back later in the week.”

A PAINFUL LOOK BACK: Asked what went wrong in a stunning 42-41 loss in Toronto last Thursday, a game in which the Redblacks had a 24-point lead late into the third quarter, Campbell said: “We have to learn to finish. That’s not one thing — it’s offence, it’s defence and it’s special teams, it’s all of it. (The Argos) made plays, you can’t take that away from them. Part of the dynamic was we did get tired late in the game on defence. It doesn’t help to only have two D-ends instead of the third we would normally have rotating through. All of those things add up. They made more plays than we did and we’ll give them credit for that.”

The Redblacks were outscored 22-3 by the Argos in the fourth quarter. Said quarterback Trevor Harris, who completed 27 passes for 381 yards: “We reflected for a day and a half, then I got busy (preparing) for Montreal. It still sucks. When you ask me about that game when I’m 47, I’ll still say it sucks. It was a very winnable game, we had it firmly within our grasp. The past three weeks have been that way, we came out on the other side of the coin twice. We have to learn how to keep, extend and maintain the lead. It’s done and over with, we’ve learned a lesson. It’s pedal to the metal. Every play matters — whether you’re up 24 or if you’re up 12 or if you’re up five. We have to make sure every detail matters. We lost as a team. I think this team is too good to lose those games late. I think you’ll see a team that trends upward in those things. I don’t think you’ll see a team that makes the same mistake twice.”

THE END AROUND: Defensive end Jonathan Newsome, who’s been on the Redblacks’ six-game injured list since being hurt in the second game of the season, could be ready to return soon … Sure, the 4-3 Redblacks are playing the Montreal Alouettes, a team that’s won just once in 2017, on Saturday — but Desjardins said the Als won’t be taken for granted: “This is pro football, you’d better not take anybody lightly.” … The Redblacks are still juggling their national ratio for this week (they need to have at least seven Canadian starters). Last week, they had six on offence (four on the offensive line and two receivers) with just Antoine Pruneau on defence. On Tuesday, they had a second Canadian — Howell — on defence. Said Campbell: “We’re still playing with the ratio of 5 to 2 offence … or 6 to 1. We’ll see how that plays out as the week goes on, health will dictate part of that.” … If the Redblacks go with just one Canadian receiver (and we’ll have to wait and see on Brad Sinopoli, who reportedly was shaken up at practice Tuesday), Americans Dominique Rhymes and Noel Thomas are options … Evan Johnson and Jason Lauzon-Seguin were rotating at right tackle Tuesday.

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